Three Major Typesof Interviews- And How to Be Successful at Them All

Transcription

1 Thee Majo Typeso nteviews- And How to Be Successul at Them All > i 5 Since you'll want to be successul duing you inteviews on the way to a job) knowing how to inteview is one o the best skills you'll eve have. by Sue Henie-Stup R.N. M.S.N. M.S.Ed. MANY OF YOU by now have had seveal inteviews i not o ull-. time employment then o college admissions summe jobs intenships o voluntee wok in a health-cae acility. Even i you have not yet had a omal job inteview you'e not eally new to the pocess-you've aleady had simila expeiences in you social lie at get-togethes talking on the phone and netwoking with iends. But inteviews o jobs in health cae tend to be moe omal than social and they'e oten stessul. They may even stetch out though an entie day and include a goup inteview o a seies o inteviews with seveal people-sometimes 10 o moe and oten with epesentatives o both sta and management. you'e not well pepaed when you come up against this type o inteview situation you may be so ovewhelmed and intimidated that you cannot give you best peomance. Good solid pepaation will help you make an excellent ist-and lasting-impession contol the content and low o the inteview and obtain the inomation about the job and the health-cae acility that you need to make a pope caee decision. The most impotant aeas you pepaation should cove ae 1) you backgound and expeience-you should have a summay statement eady; 2) you utue goals and objectives-you need to have a clea pictue o these; 3) the things you wish to know about the job and healthcae acility-make a new list o. each inteview; and 4) pepaed answes to questions that you expect the inteviewe to ask. Thee types o inteviews Dieent inteviews have dieent puposes. The type that caee counselos oten ecommend to individuals who ae not quite sue about the kind o caee o specialty aea o setting they'd like to look o is the inomational inteview-which. you'll aange o yousel. A. second type is the sceening inteview which acilities use to sceen the numbe o job applicants down to just a ew qualiied 6 candidates. Sceening inteviews may be conducted ove the 1 phone o at job ais o even in the hall so be pepaed! A thid type o inteview-and one that will be discussed in depth-is the decision inteview the kind used o making the actual hiing decision. Thee is a outh type the seach-and-sceen inteview which usually involves seveal people inteviewing as a goup. Since it is aely used o entylevel jobs it won't be discussed hee. The dieent types o inteviews ae conducted by dieenj kinds o inteviewes with dieent inteview styles-and usually woking to dieent puposes. All inteviewes o couse don't have the same level o inteviewing skills and so ate eading this aticle you may be moe pepaed o you inteview than the peson inteviewing you!. Type 1: The nomational nteview This is the one type that you the job seeke aanges. t is

2 between you and a peson who is woking in the ield o specialty aea o which you may have a paticula inteest. nomational inteviews tend to be less theatening than the othe types and ae an excellent way to netwok and to develop a list o contact names o utue eeence. What ae the majo espon-: sibilities o you job? What expeiences/education would pepae me o becoming a qualiied candidate o a job like yous? How did you get stated in you ield? What do you do duing an aveage day on the job?...i you ae a pepaed inteviewee you may be able to contol the low o the inteview by asking leading questions and poviding appopiate inomation about yousel at the pope times. This type inteview should not be taken lightly because many times the peson you ae inteviewing (note that you ae inteviewing each othel) may know o an unposted o upcoming job opening o which you may be qualiied. You need to be pepaed with a list o good questions and with a numbe o esumes in hand. Thee ae ou majo objectives o esults to stive o with the inomational inteview: 1) obtain inomation egading dieent types o caees specialty aeas and wok envionments; 2) discuss majo issues in you ield.o inteest; 3) lean some speciics about caees o jobs o inteest to you; and 4) get names o people in the ield with whom you might conduct additional inomational inteviews. Among the questions you may wish to ask duing these inteviews ae: Does you job equie much tavel o ovetime wok? Do you have on-call esponsibilities? What is the potential o gowth and advancement in you job? What skills should be developing now? What kind o ecognition do you get om you job? What do you like/dislike about you job? How is this acility oganized? To whom do you epot? Could you ecommend someone else might speak to about enteing this ield o specialty aea? Type 2: The Sceening nteview This type o inteview is the ist one you'll have with a paticula acility. t is usually conducted by a human esouces specialist nuse o allied health 7 ecuite who is oten a skilled inteviewe. You should emembe that this inteviewe's job is not to decide whethe you ae the peect peson o the job but to judge how you measue up against a poile o the hypothetically ideal candidate. t oten happens that the sceening inteviewe will cone with the supeviso o depatment head who i you'e selected to move to the next level will conduct you next inteview so don't take this inteview lightly. Sceening inteviews ae oten vey shot minutes) and oten occu in a pesonnel o human esouces oice ate you have submitted the job application. Type 3: The Decision nteview This is the big one and is usually conducted in pat by the supeviso depatment head o by a peson with the authoity to hie you. t can consist o inte-. views with seveal people ove the couse o a ull day. Oten some o these inteviewes ae not skilled in this endeavowhich can be good and bad news. You may have to ield some odd questions and in an illogical sequence. But i you ae a pepaed inteviewee you may be able to contol the low o the inteview by asking leading questions and poviding appopiate inomation about yousel at the pope times. Being in the dive's seat will give you a bette chance o getting whee you want to go. Seven steps to eective pepaation Thee ae a numbe o steps you should take to pepae yousel well to excel in any o these types o inteviews. Landing yout ist job as a health poessional will not be as easy as sending a esume in the mail o as simple as showing up o an

3 inteview on time and weaing shoes. Hee ae seven things you need to do to come out on top in you inteview. ' o j i 1. : -:.' j! Step 1: Reseach the Facility and nteview Situation You need to pepae o the inteview by ist eseaching the health-cae acility the inteviewe who will be inteviewing you and the inteview situation. This is the time to develop you own oganizational style by developing a act sheet on each acility you'll be inteviewing with The day the ist acility calls you to set up an inteview is the time you pepaation should begin. Ask the peson who calls o the name o the peson you ae to meet with that day. Ask othe petinent questions: How will the day be stuctued? Will get to tou the acility? Will be meeting people ove lunch? Ask o any petinent liteatue (that you haven't aleady collected and ead!) to be sent to you. the calle doesn't have it ask how you might obtain it-pehaps by tanseing this call to someone else ate you business is completed. Othe inomation you should obtain ae the name telephone numbe and location o the peson you should see ist. you'e unsue o how to get thee now's the time to get diections. Find out the coect addess o the inteview site the names and titles o the people who will inteview you the date and time o the (ist) inteview and the inteview omat. Wite all the collected inomation on one o the acility act sheets that you've developed and keep it in a thee-ing binde. Ate the call eseach the acility thooughly. Wite down impotant acts about it including patient population numbe o beds community vesus city location eseach endeavos specialty aeas sevices povided oganizational stuctue philosophy o patient cae etc. Get an idea o the wokings o the entie opeation including othe depatments that you as a health-cae poessional would inteace with. Step 2: Match You Stengths to the Health-Cae Facility Poile Go ove all the inomation you've collected and lean it well. Note the stengths o the acility and elate them to you own stengths and poessional needs. At the inteview you will need to convey you message o how you will add to this acility's healthcae team by demonstating knowledge and undestanding o its philosophy and goals. Step 3: Pepae a List o Questions to Ask the nteviewe Pepaation means leaning about the inteviewing acility but it also' means leaning about what you don't know about the acility and the position opening. Accoding to Jane Stye-Acevedo P.T. diecto o physical theapy at Childen's Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia The inteviewing student should ente the inteview with pepaed questions on how the sta position might aod clinical and educational gowth. Fo example: 'What continuing education and/ o tuition eimbusement beneits ae available and ae they in time allotment o money?' 'What kind o supevision and coteatment oppotunities can expect?' And: 's thee someone available to whom can diect my clinical questions?' You may wish to inquie about the type o oientation omat o peceptoing pogam the acility oes about clinical 'laddes o the oppotunities o 8 continuing education. You might ask the inteviewe to deine the oganization's concept o a successul health poessional. t is peectly acceptable to bing a witten list o questions to the inteview to use as a eeence. This kind o pepaation is mote likely to impess than to indicate a weakness.. Step 4: Develop Answes to Expected Questions The moe thoough you eseach the bette idea you'll have o the type o questions you'll be asked in the inteview Most books on inteviewing skills povide lists o had questions that inteviewes ask; go though a couple o these books and select questions you'e most likely to be asked at the acility you'll be inteviewing with. Stop by you caee sevices oice ahd ead its liteatue on inteviewing skills-and take a skills wokshop i you can. Deba Teixeia a ecent gaduate o the cytotechnology pogam at Thomas Jeeson Univesity's College o Allied Health Sciences in Philadelphia had this to say about he wokshop expeience: When had an inteview coning up went though the questions anq thought out my esponses 'just in case.' was asked almost evey diicult question! could tell that the supevisos wee impessed with the way handled mysel and how answeed the questions. They oeed me the job! know i hadn't attended the nteviewing Skills Wokshop would not have handled the inteview as well as did. Be pepaed to answe such diicult questions as Tell me about yousel. What do you know about ou acility? How has you educational expeience pepaed you o a sta positio? And: spoke to you clinical instucto what would he o she say wee you geatest stengths 1

4 and weaknesses? thee is a chance that a potentially detimental issue could aise such as poo academic gades one semeste you should have an answe pepaed that puts it in a positive light. Fo example hee you might explain that you had an unusually heavy study load that semeste and that the expeience helped you to impove you study skill techniques...that you pulled up you gade point aveage the ollowing semeste and have maintained good gades eve since. Step 5: Pactice You Answes Aloud You've head it beoe but pactice does make peect. Once you have you list o questions jot down the inomation you want you answes to contain. Then tape you answes eithe on audio o video and eview you pactice inteview paying attention not only to what you said but also how you said it. Tape yousel again and see i you've impoved any. Ask a iend o instucto-maybe you caee counselo-to inteview you in a mock inteview situation. Ask that peson to citique you peomance-how you answe the questions what kind o an impession you make how you pesent yousel though you body language voice intonation eye contact and geneal demeano. Pactice will make peect. Step 6: Lean Pope nteview Conduct How you conduct yousel at the inteview itsel could have a stong beaing on you being oeed the job. Hee ae some o the things you should keep in mind: Aive at least 10 minutes beoe the inteview is scheduled looking as poessional as you can. Dess consevatively in a neat business suit comotable shoes women in stockings. You should not eel ovedessed when the inteviewe shows up in pants and a lab coat--oten diect om a job o poviding patient cae. Have with you seveal copies o you esume (to give to othes you may inteview with). Also bing a sepaate typed list o at Cynthia Willis senio placement specialist in the Human Resouce Depatment at Thomas Jeeson Univesity in Philadelphia sceens and inteviews hundeds o health-poession candidates annually om vaious disciplines such as occupational and physical theapy laboatoy sciences and diagnostic imaging. Duing the inteview ty to stay elaxed and make appopiate eye contact. The most impotant thing is to be yousel be conident in you educational pepaation and have you goals clealy deined least thee eeences each with name title addess and phone numbe plus the most suitable time each can be eached. Each eeence peson should have an academic clinical o poessional elationship with you not just a pesonal one. Bing along any suppoting mateial you might have such as lettes o ecommendation cetiications tanscipts o published papes o pojects. Many supevisos like to look at tanscipts at the time o the inteview i not beoe. Geet the inteviewe with a im handshake and act natually. Duing the inteview ty to stay elaxed and make appopiate eye contact. The most impotant thing is to be yousel be conident in you educational pepaation and have you goals clealy deined. 9 She has this to say to applicants: The candidate who sits in my oice and inoms me that he o she will do anything in any depatment tells me immediately that this is not a goal-oiented peson. t's impotant to emembe that the inteviewe cannot assume what the candidate's aeas o inteest ae. The candidate should clealy state allaeas o inteest duing the inteview so that the inteviewe can make the most appopiate placement. would much athe have candidates tell me they'e pimaily inteested in a speciic aea such as micobiology but that they ae willing to conside othe aeas such as toxicology o blood bank. This is much moe helpul to me i cannot ind a job opening immediately in the aea o pimay inteest. Then can stat looking in the othe secon-

5 ': \1 t :; ;: - J ;.. ::. < ( c : J l. - ; -: day aeas that they mentioned. you've done you eseach you will have some good questions to ask. a tou o the acility is on the agenda continue to ask questions while you ae walking-and eally listen to the answes. Stop and talk to othe sta membes i you can. Take mental notes on such things as the sta/patient atio equipment in use theapeutic inteventions esouce bulletin boads libay and eceation acilities continuing education oeings and how. sta membes inteact with one anothe. At the end o the inteview inquie about the time ame o illing the position and about when second inteviews will take place. Ask when you can call to ind out i the hiing decision has been made. 0' ; Step 7: Look Back When the nteview s Ove Many new job seekes think the inteviewing pocess is inished when the inteview is ove. t's not. n act it is what they do ate the inteview that can oten give pepaed and knowledgeable job seekes an edge ove othes seeking the same position. Hee's what to do: mmediately ollowing the inteview go ove the questions you had touble answeing. Rethink how you could answe them bette i they'e eve asked again. Pactice you evised answes aloud. Wite down as many details about the inteview as you can emembe. Be sue to include names and titles o the people you spoke to at length as well as details about the position and acility. Add this to you notebook. Type o wod pocess a thank-you lette within one week to the inteviewe and to any othes who may have spent a geat deal o time answeing you questions. A thank-you note also puts you name in ont o the inteviewe one moe time and eemphasizes you inteest in the job-and in you majo qualiications which you lette should biely summaize. Valeie Hicks Ashley caee counselo in the Caee Sevices Cente at Thomas Jeeson Univesity's College o Allied Health Sciences in Philadelphia explains: Not witing a thank-you lette can cost you a job oe. Sending a lette with eos in it howeve is wose than not sending one at all! Send a sepaate note to each peson with whom you inteviewed and be cetain to pooead each one. Be absolutely cetain you have thei coect titles and the coect spelling o thei names. To make sue o this ask each o them o a business cad duing you inteview. Thank-you lettes ae the inal step in the inteviewing pocess and most employes ae avoably impessed by this poessional coutesy. you eceive no wod om the acility in a week o so-o shotly ate you thank-you lettes have been eceived---call to check the status o the employee seach. You may ind that the supeviso has been so bogged down by papewok and patient cae that the inteviewing pocess had to be put on the back bune; you may need to wait a bit longe. To keep you pospects alive call the peson who inteviewed you and ask i you can answe any uthe questions o send any additional mateials. you ae invited back to a second inteview emembe that you now have a bette then chance o eceiving a job oe. Pepae o this second inteview too knowing that it will concentate on speciic issues athe than on the geneal ones you talked about beoe. The subjects o salay beneits bonuses and options will now be open o 10 discussion but pobably not uitil ate an oe has been extended. A inal wod As a poessional enteing the health ield o the ist time you will ind the job-seach and inteview pocess to be a vey exciting though sometimes ovewhelming expeience. Remembe that you ae in demand but also that a health-cae acility would much athe ind dedicated had-woking loyal and well-educated employee than just anothe able body. Fo you pat you need an employe that will be concened about you as a peson and a poessional and one that oes oppotunities oi you to gow within the oganization. By being a knowledgeable and pepaed job seeke you Will have the essential inteviewing skills to let you discove what you need to know about the health-cae acility and to let its inteviewes discove what they need to know about you. Only in this way can you popely select the job that is ight o you. Sue Henie-Stup is the Coodinato o the Caee Sevices Cente o the College o Allied Health Sciences at Thomas Jeeson Univesity Philadelphia. Since mid-1989 she and he sta have povided moe than 100 caee development wokshops and seminas and have counselled moe than 500 nusing ad allied health students and alumni. Ms. Henie-Stup eceived he B.S. om ndiana Univesity Bloomington ndiana in nusing then went on to ean two maste's degees one in nusing (M.S.N.) the othe in education (M.S.Ed.) both om ndiana. She is an active membe o the Middle Atlantic Placement Association (MAPA) the Delawae Valley Caee Plannes (DVCP) and the Amepcan Society o Allied Health Poessions (ASAHP). -